Since a ceasefire was concluded between the Yemeni government and the Houthis on 11 February, people harmed by the conflict in Sa'ada and Amran have been trying to rebuild their lives. Some are returning to their homes, while others are leaving remote areas for places such as Sa'ada city and camps for internally displaced people (IDPs), where basic services and humanitarian aid are available. Although many people are likely to have to depend on aid for a considerable period of time, it is hoped that they will be better off than they have been until now.

"The camps for displaced people that we are running together with the Yemen Red Crescent Society in Sa'ada governorate are overstretched at the moment, and there's not much space left for newcomers," said Annabelle Boetcher, the ICRC's deputy head of delegation in Yemen. More than 22,500 people are currently accommodated in five camps run by the Yemen Red Crescent and the ICRC.

"We are now trying to help people we had been unable to reach because of the ongoing fighting," said Ms Boettcher. "Within a few days after the ceasefire came into effect, we were able, for the first time, to distribute food to nearly 2,600 people in Damaj, in Sa'ada governorate." In recent weeks, the ICRC has also helped the Yemen Red Crescent to bring aid to people trapped by the fighting in Al-Qataber district, in western Sa'ada governorate, close to the Saudi border. More than 5,600 people were given food, tents, basic medical supplies and other essential items.

The ICRC and the Yemen Red Crescent will continue to do whatever is necessary to help people in camps and elsewhere in the governorates of Sa'ada and Amran to cope with the situation.

Providing food and other essential items

Over the past two weeks, the ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent have:

• provided 4,200 newly displaced people and more than 1,600 residents in Al-Qataber district's Aal-Thabet area, in western Sa'ada governorate, with urgently needed tents, tarpaulins, blankets, mattresses, jerrycans and hygiene items and with one-month rations of wheat grain, vegetable oil, beans, rice, salt and sugar;
• distributed food transferred by the World Food Programme to the district of Baqem (west of Sa'ada city, towards the Saudi border) to around 14,700 displaced people in Mandaba camp;
• distributed food, for the first time, to nearly 2,800 displaced people in Sa'ada governorate's Damaj area;
• provided tents to shelter more than 20,500 displaced people in Al-Jabbana, Sam, Al-Ehsa' and Mandaba camps, and replaced around 355 old tents with new ones for people living in Al-Ehsa', Sam and Al-Buqa' camps in and around Sa'ada city;
• provided wheat grain, vegetable oil, beans, rice, salt and sugar, as well as blankets, hand soap, washing powder and hygiene items, for nearly 10,500 displaced people and residents from the Hawazat region of Harf Sufyan, in northern Amran governorate, in the second such distribution since October last year.

The ICRC has:

• installed in cooperation with the Yemen Red Crescent 16 additional water points, each with a 2,000-litre storage capacity, to provide clean water for more than 5,500 newly displaced people in Al-Qataber district's Aal-Thabet area, in western Sa'ada governorate;
• continued to ensure that the 60 water points in Sa'ada city are fully functional, by delivering water by truck and providing the diesel fuel needed to pump water from borehole connections, so that 42,000 displaced and other conflict-affected people have clean water;
• continued to run camps for the displaced with the Yemen Red Crescent's Sa'ada branch, where it provides 251,000 litres of water per day, maintains 234 previously built latrines and manages solid waste;
• provided 22,000 litres of water per day for over 1,900 displaced people in Al-Buqa' camp;
• met the water needs of 10,500 displaced people and residents in Wadi Khaiwan, Khamer, Al-Gubba and Houth, in Amran governorate, by upgrading a 10,000-litre water tank and installing three new water points, delivering water by truck and providing the diesel fuel needed to run pumps.

Over the past two weeks, the ICRC has:

• provided support for a Ministry of Health and Population vaccination campaign against measles and polio in Al-Buqa' camp for displaced people, in northern Sa'ada governorate, in which nearly 450 people were immunized;
• distributed enough medicines to a local health-care centre in Aal -Thabit, Qataber district, to treat 1,000 patients for three months;
• provided support for a Ministry of Health and Population vaccination campaign against measles and polio in Khaiwan Al-Hamra and 15 nearby villages, in northern Amran governorate, in which 842 children under five years of age were vaccinated against polio and 769 against measles, and 769 were also given doses of vitamin A. In a previous ICRC-supported campaign carried out by the Yemen Red Crescent's Amran branch, around 60 children under five were vaccinated against measles and polio and were administered vitamin A;
• continued to support two clinics in Wadi Khaiwan providing between 400 and 600 consultations per week.